Sunday, June 01, 2008
Segways
above is the new type Segway which I rode yesterday. It has a fundamental difference from the ones I have ridden before, like the one below, in the way they steer. The old ones have twist grip on the left that you turn to steer - that was the only way to steer. To go forward you lean forward and to go back you lean back and to turn you turn the left grip
The new ones like the one at the top and below and the Ferrari Segway are steered by leaning the whole bar column to Left or right. Much more intuitive.Yesterday I took a two hour tour with a large group and of course people have to learn to ride the things first which, in this case, took a long time because some of the people were not naturals at this.
Within an hour though everybody could ride - there is no other motorized vehicle, fundamentally different from anything else that could be learned that quickly. They are very intuitive - you can stand still on them easily and move slowly or turn around. Imagine how long it takes to learn to ride a bike or car or motorcycle - weeks!
I love these things and Chicago is the perfect place with its miles of cycle tracks and parks. While the guide was teaching the rookies I was off having fun close-by. He said that he did not mind if people wanted to ride instead of listening to his narration so I rode constantly. Because of the slow learners the two hour tour took three hours and because I rode all the time I was the one who got the flat battery. I sat and waited at the end while he brought me a new one and took the dead one away - He also gave me a free hour on my own so I got almost four hours for the price of two ($49) much cheaper than they were in Santa Monica.
These things would be a big hit if they did not cost $4,500 to buy. I love them.
# posted by william @ 3:48 PM 
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Does it have any real advantages over a bicycle? I guess 4 hour cycling would be a long time in the saddle, but I still think a bike might be more practical and faster.
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